i dont understand tobagans in the summer time...are these guys actually that stoooooooooopid? blink::confused:

June 17th, 2011, 04:55 AM

kaboomkaboom

Sounds like she moved from condition yellow to condition orange...perfect response...no harm no foul and the fact that she was aware would have stood her well in and of itself if she needed to move to red...

June 17th, 2011, 12:51 PM

GunGeezer

Whenever we go through a drive-thru I have gotten into the habit of using the outside lane as most others are not wide enough to accommodate my dually, 1-ton truck. However, if I ever felt threatened, a little engine revving will make me invisible by plunging everything within a half-block area in a cloud of black diesel smoke whereby I could easily sneak away unnoticed. As to the car in front, I'd ask my wife, "did you hear a thump"?

June 17th, 2011, 03:32 PM

royal barnes

I once investigated a bank robbery involving two kids(12 and 13) at the drive through. They were on bikes and each had a water pistol(obvious). They announced a stickup and the teller gave them $2000.00. When we arrived and got the story I went 1/2 block to the local convenience store and nabbed the two "felons" who were gleefully stocking up on drinks, candy and bubblegum. :smile:

June 19th, 2011, 12:47 PM

jofrdo

I avoid drive-thru banking (tellers and ATMs) and use a walk-up ATM if possible. I feel there are too many blind spots around me when in the car; it's difficult to clear potential hiding spots (shrubs, building structure, ATM housing, etc.) from the driver's seat, and it's too hard to quickly draw from the holster when seated. When I go to a walk-up ATM, I open carry as obviously as I can, I take a couple of side steps to peer around the corner of the building to make sure nobody is lurking there, and I keep my eye on my six o'clock in the fisheye mirror attached to the ATM. Any badguy waiting to rob an ATM customer will wait for the next sucker when he sees that I'm armed, but if he tries anything, I feel I'm in a better position to defend than if seated behind the steering wheel.

June 19th, 2011, 03:23 PM

gunthorp

I use a walkup ATM, too, for just about everything. It's located in a fairly busy "eat food, get gas" store.

June 25th, 2011, 03:10 AM

45Gunner

Call it paranoia if you want, but I never put myself in a situation where I could be boxed in. I simply do not use bank drive-in windows. Even in bumper to bumper traffic, I leave enough space between me and the car in front that I could pull out and make a break for the median. I suffer from hyper-vigilance and as such, always look for an escape route of a place where I have my back protected. Even in a restaurant, I must sit with my back to the wall and be able to see what is out in front of me.

In the case of your wife, this may be a little overboard but I think situational awareness should have ramped her up into a defensive posture to be at the ready with a game plan in play if things went south in a hurry. This does not mean necessarily planning on how to use her gun but more like how to escape a worsening situation. The gun should always be a last resort and used only when her life is definitely in danger. I would advise her to utilize the lobby and if she is too late, there is always the following Monday. After all, what banking transactions really happen on a late Saturday afternoon and Sundays?

June 25th, 2011, 11:30 AM

Chad Rogers

Yesterday morning at about 0930 I was driving by my Wachovia and thought about going to the ATM. Then I decided not to because I would be violating my personal precepts of 1) staying away from banks on Friday mornings, and 2) staying away from ATM machines right outside bank doors when the banks are open.

When using an ATM machine at 0800 (my normal time), I have a good field of vision with very few people moving around. All the people I have to "worry" about are outside the bank. When the bank is open then I now have the variable of people coming out of the bank who were not in my field of vision, and thus are completely unknown quantities. Plus there are more people generally moving around, so there are more chess pieces to keep track of. Not to mention the added stress of any folks sitting in cars with engines running.

So I stuck to my guns and will simply wait until another morning.

June 25th, 2011, 02:51 PM

ConcealedG30

Sounds like your wife is working through scenairios in her head, good for her. Many people have no idea whats going on around them.

June 25th, 2011, 05:46 PM

TSiWRX

I think what Chad Rogers said is very illustrative of the best-defense: not being there at all.

Certainly, we may not enjoy that capability, all the time - but we should be able to try to plan-ahead enough that we can go to the gas-station, ATM, or engage in other "higher risk" activities at times-of-day and locations where the risk is mitigated or offset, and is then further decreased by our situational awareness.

Again, that's not to say that, practically and realistically, we can always avoid the ATM when it's dark or never need to stop in a less-than-desirable neighborhood to refuel: as much as we would like that not to be the case, that's just not always possible. :smile: